The Chicago Bears defense will face another big test on Sunday at Soldier Field. With the bye week around the corner, this team has a chance to hit the break with a 3-1 record and sole possession of first place in the NFC North. The schedule-makers didn’t make it easy for them though. Standing in their way will be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their red-hot quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Tampa Bay has had the number of the Bears the past two years, crushing them in back-to-back games by a combined score of 65-17. This will be the first time the venue has switched to Chicago, offering a prime opportunity at revenge. That said, it doesn’t look like things will be any easier. The Buccaneers are still a dangerous team.
Their success has come thanks to the surprise resurgence of Fitzpatrick who has 11 touchdown passes in just three games. That’s bananas, especially for a guy who turns 36-years old in November and has spent his career as a journeyman. Chicago isn’t dumb enough to overlook him now. So how in the world do they stop him?
Ryan Fitzpatrick lives for (and off of) the big plays
There’s a reason Fitzpatrick has experienced a career renaissance in Tampa Bay. It’s because that offense is uniquely equipped to let him do what he likes to do best. That’s cut it loose down the field. Fitzpatrick has made his career out of living off big plays. The more opportunities he gets, the better he plays. So far in 2018, he’s averaging a whopping 11.08 yards per pass. He’s throw three-straight 400-yard games and the Bucs are 2-1.
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However, things change when the big play opportunities aren’t there. Fitzpatrick is 50-71-1 as a starting quarterback in the NFL. However, when he’s thrown for less than seven yards per pass in a game over the course of that career? His record plummets to 18-48-1. In other words, if you take away his opportunities to attack downfield, he’s not the most capable at generating effective offense.
The Buccaneers can’t run the ball either. So in other words, their lifeblood is doing what they’ve done the past three weeks. So far teams haven’t been able to stop it. Not completely anyway. That’s a testament to the impressive talent they assembled with Mike Evans, Desean Jackson, Chris Godwin, and O.J. Howard.
It presents a unique challenge for this Bears defense.
While the unit is rightfully one of the best in the NFL, they do have a lingering concern. They’ve been too generous to this point with the big plays allowed. In three games opponents have hit pass plays of 20 yards or more on them 10 times. Four of the seven touchdowns they’ve allowed came via such plays.
That’s a problem. What makes matters worse is the Bears might be shorthanded in the secondary in this game. Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper are both nursing hamstring injuries and their status for Sunday is unknown. This might force Vic Fangio to be more aggressive attacking Fitzpatrick with blitzes.
Not a bad strategy since the veteran has thrown three of his four interceptions when being blitzed. Still, the battle plan is fairly clear. The Bears should make it their mission to force Fitzpatrick into playing the short game. See if he can work his way down the field consistently. Take away the deep shots he loves so much. History shows he doesn’t adjust well to such things.
